Livestock goes local: Rein van der Hoek's contributions to community resilience in West Africa

When he began his studies, Rein van der Hoek was surrounded by friends whose families were small-scale livestock farmers. He developed an interest in farming at a young age, but he was not sure how to focus his interests in agriculture and sustainability. While exploring various fields, van der Hoek felt skeptical about industrial farming methods: “I found that this model was too focused on yield, often at the expense of the environment”. Only when he focused his studies on tropical agriculture – especially on the integration of livestock into ecosystems – he found his passion. He explains: “Discovering tropical food production showed me the possibility of reconciling my interests in agriculture and sustainability”.